Chez Panisse & Fedora

Here are two Café -Restaurants introduced to me first by my sweet friend, Aaron. I went to both and I am a fan now. Unfortunately for me one of the places is far away in California; but fortunately the other one is just 10 min drive from my house.

If you live around San Francisco bay area you have probably heard of Chez Panisse restaurant and café. The café was founded by Alice Waters & her partners in 1971 and named after a character called Panisse in the trilogy play-movie of Marius, Fanny and Cesar. Chez Panisse is famous for its seasonal menu that changes every day and varies based on the availability of ingredients on that season. It has a Café for lunch and a Restaurant for dinner. It is very hard to find a spot for dinner without reservation and you should reserve it way a head of time. For lunch the space is more available but it never hurts to reserve your table. I was there on November 30th; Persimmon’s touch made that day’s menu very colorful. Chez Panisse is pricey, but it’s worth trying.

If you live around Princeton and enjoy café atmosphere, Fedora Café welcomes you. Fedora is a small magically decorated café and very family friendly. Its Harry Pottery look – when I said magically decorated I meant it – makes you hungry. For working though, if you like to work in coffee shops as I do, is not that good. You can read a novel and enjoy your lunch but I’ve never seen anyone working there especially with a laptop. Fedora is located at 2633 Main Street, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. You can call them at (609-895-0844) they are very responsive. you can read another review for Fedora here.

Hold the Season in Your Hands !
Fig Leaf, Chez Panisse, November 2007

Meatloaf with Hard-Boiled Eggs

Meatloaf with Hard-Boiled Eggs



4 servings

Preparation & cooking time: 55 minutes on 350ºF
Ingredients:

1 ½ pound Ground Turkey: depending on what I have at home, sometimes I use ground beef, but I prefer turkey.
1½ cup Breadcrumbs
½ cup Milk or Water: I use nonfat milk. Feel free to use water instead. I have used it and I didn’t feel any particular change in the taste. So it has been tested!
¼ cup Fresh Parsley: chopped.
2 average size hard-boiled eggs: For how to boil the eggs take a look at the Tips!

Spices:

1tsp. Dried Thyme
1tsp. Dried Oregano
1tsp. Dried Rosemary
2tsp. Black pepper
1½ tsp. Salt
No Oil is needed!

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven on 350ºF

2- Soak the breadcrumbs in the Milk or Water. Let it stand for about 1 minute: The idea of using breadcrumbs is to add extra moisture to the meat especially if we are using turkey. If we do not mix it with water or milk the crumbs start to absorb the moister already in the meat and the result is an uneven and dry meatloaf.

3- In a mixing-bowl mix the ground turkey, the soaked breadcrumbs, chopped parsley and spices. Mix well!


4- Peel the hard boiled eggs. Split the meat to two almost equal halves. Put the first half in the oven dish. Shape it like the bottom of the dish or in a small rectangle. Place the boiled eggs on it and add the other half of the meat. After shaping the meatloaf you can add some black pepper and thyme to the top.



5- Place the dish in the oven and cook for 40 minutes.

نوش جان

(Noushe Jan)
Bon Appetit!

Tips:
1- It is better to use a baking loaf dish. If you don't have the dish feel free to shape the meatloaf by hand and place it directly on the oven rack.
2- Put the eggs on a saucepan with cold water – water should cover the eggs. Put the stove on high heat. Bring the water to boil and then bring the heat down and let it cook for 12 minutes. The whole process is 15 minutes. Drain, let the eggs cool down, then peal.

Shirazi Salad with Green Pepper and Apple:

This recipe is inspired by my friend, Paiyz, and her creatively appetizing salads. Shirazi Salad with green pepper & apple is a great lunch. Serve it with Pita bread, hummus or feta cheese.

Shirazi means from Shiraz: a city located in southwest Iran, where, among many of its attractions, Shiraz wine is originated. Depending on where one is from, I guess, Shirazi Salad changes its name to Israeli Salad. Also there is a Greek version of this salad. The trick for a good Shirazi salad is in its finely chopped vegetables. But for this recipe I like to chop the greens a little bit larger than usual.




(4-6 Servings)

Ingredients:

1 Green Apple: chopped. To prevent discoloring: put the chopped apples in a plastic bag and add some lemon juice to it. Mix well and let it stay for about 1 min. (I like green apple for this salad because of its sourness. But you can use any kind you like.) Do Not Peel the apple!
3 Cucumbers: average size or 1 and a half if it is large: peeled and chopped. (If I use organic cucumber, I either don’t peal or I peel the cucumber in stripes.)
3 Tomatoes: average size, chopped the juicier the tomato is the better the salad becomes.
1 Green Pepper: chopped
½ Onion: average size, finely chopped (optional)

Spices:

1 tbs. Olive Oil
1 tbs. Lemon Juice
½ tsp. Lime Juice: (optional)
1 to 2 tbs. Dried Mint: (you can replace it with 2 tbs. of finely chopped fresh mint)
A dash of Salt and Black Pepper

Directions:

1- Mix the chopped vegetables: Apple, Tomato, Cucumber and Green pepper. Note: if you don’t want discolored apples use the lemon juice trick. Let the mixture stay for about 15 minutes; the tomato’s juice can get into the other ingredients. After that you can add the onion.

2- Add the spices before serving and mix well.

نوش جان
(Noushe Jan)
Bon Appetit!

Coffee Shops Across America:

While riding our Honda Fit, Fandough (Hazelnut), across the country, from Princeton NJ to Berkeley CA, we stopped at many different coffee shops in different cities just to caffeinate ourselves with hot tea and sometimes coffee.

Here are three of those memorable coffee shops. Some are already known and some are isolated, but all three have a good tea collection and a nice ambiance to work. Keep them in mind when you pass these cities, especially if you are in the habit of working in coffee shops as I am.

Grounded Specialty Coffee
308, Main St. La Crosse, WI

Their Dark Chocolate Muffins are great. Add to it their nice owners, I guess a husband and wife and an ultra clean restroom (crucial factor for me!) They are famous for their double-shot espressos.

Trout River Coffee Bar
211 W. Front St. Downtown Missoula, MT

Everything is great in Trout River; especially it is a very good place to work. Not too cold, not too warm enough light and no loud music.

Michelangelo’s Coffee House
114 State St. Madison, WI

They make a great coffee and cappuccino. The owner is a warm and intelligent Lebanese-Mexican and obviously an admirer of Michelangelo.

Michelangelo's Coffee House, Madison, 2007